Host Marvin Simmons of Northwest Vets for Peace interviews Bob Chenoweth who was a prisoner of war in Hanoi for five years and a member of the Peace Committee while in prison. Members of the Peace Committee were deeply affected by their combat experiences and as a result re-examined their basic assumptions about the war. They made radio and print statements against the war while in prison. In this second part of a two-part interview Chenoweth discusses some of his experiences in prison.

Hosts Celeste Carey and Cecil Prescod speak with Robert Whitaker, author of Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America. Robert Whitaker probed into clinical studies in prestigious scientific journals, some dating back more than 50 years. He noticed a shocking anomaly. Psychiatric drugs have repeatedly been shown to worsen mental illness, to say nothing of the risks of liver damage, weight gain, elevated cholesterol and blood sugar, and reduced cognitive function they entail.

Physicians for Social Responsibility Members Speak about their Recent Trip

Host Marianne Barisonek speaks with Gerri Haynes and Laura Hart about the health threats they witnessed on their January 2011 medical delegation visit to Gaza. Portland nurse practitioner Maxine Fookson, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, is also a guest.

Zoe interviewed Jamal Dar of The African Youth and Community Organization (AYCO). AYCO was formed in early 2010 to address the lack of services and programs for African immigrant and refugee families. Schools are inadequately equipped to deal with African refugee youth; parents lack the necessary language skills for effective communication with the schools and other community organizations; and existing organizations too often under-serve or cut loose families, leaving them ill-prepared for interactions with the larger community.

Host Marvin Simmons of Northwest Vets for Peace interviews Bob Chenoweth who was a prisoner of war in Hanoi for five years and a member of the Peace Committee while in prison. Members of the Peace Committee were deeply affected by their combat experiences and as a result re-examined their basic assumptions about the war. They made radio and print statements against the war while in prison. In this second part of a two-part interview Chenoweth discusses some of his experiences in prison.

Democracy Here: Open Reservoirs and Governments

This edition of Democracy Here explores the difference between engineered- and informed consent of the governed using the context of Portland’s current plans to take open reservoirs off-line and replacing them with new underground storage tanks.

The plan to bury the reservoirs is controversial: the city says they are forced to spend a half a billion dollars in order to comply with a federal regulation, while citizen groups say that the water bureau is fast tracking projects to the same cozy consultants who wrote the regulation and that the water bureau could work more earnestly on obtaining relief.

The Rural Organizing Project held its annual rural caucus on May 7th, in Bend Oregon. On ths episode of Circle A Radio, we will listen to speeches from the event, hear participants in the march on Representative Greg Walden’s office, and talk to individual members of Rural Organizing Project about building community, and organizing.

Howard Zinn – Just & Unjust Wars (lecture)

From ancient Athens to 21st century America, the rhetoric is the same. When "the dogs of war" are set loose, there is a cascade of jingoistic platitudes and cliches. We want peace. When we fight a war, it is just. We are good. The enemy is evil. We are victims seeking justice. We are making the world safe for democracy. And if they were honest they'd add, We are making the world safe for lexical and moral hypocrisy. Erasmus, the great 16th century philosopher monk, said of war, "There is nothing more wicked, more disastrous, more widely destructive, more loathsome." He then added that war was useful to a government for it enabled it to extend its power over citizens.

Bill Resnick hosts this episode of the Old Mole dealing with race and gentrification in Portland, some questions about democracy, a movie about Columbus and the private ownership of water, and the revolutionary music of British composer Cornelius Cardew.

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